Lorraine Hansberry, Africa at the Gate fundraiser

Lorraine Hansberry, greeting the audience at the “Africa at the Gate” event to benefit the Africa Defense and Aid Fund, American Committee on Africa. Village Gate nightclub, NYC, January 20, 1960. As reported in the New York Age on January 16, 1960, performers included musicians Clarice Crawford, Josh White, Larry Adler, and Robert Rousneville, and dancers Leon James, Al Minns, and the Nigerian Dance Company. The Africa Defense and Aid Fund provided funds for legal and family welfare emergencies resulting from efforts to achieve democratic rights in African territories. Sponsors included Eleanor Roosevelt, Rev. James A. Pike, Jackie Robinson, Jacob Javits, Martin Luther King, Jr., Emily Kimbrough, Rabbi Israel Goldstein, Reinhold Neibuhr, Tom Nboya of Kenya,and the Archibishop of Cape Town, South Africa. Photo by Gin Briggs.